Installations

Record-setting Acme Solar has secured a third of the latest procurement exercise in the state with a lowest bid of Rs2.48/kWh. The tender was oversubscribed by more than 100% as offers came in for 1,620 MW of capacity.

The Gurugram-based commercial solar player has installed a 736 kWp rooftop solar plant at Mandoli Jail in Delhi. The power generated from the plant—built on ‘pay-as-you-go’ model—will cost about 50% cheaper than grid electricity.

A state hamstrung by low irradiance, tough terrain and regular flooding is trying to move forward its energy transition. Previously, the largest solar project in Assam had a generation capacity of only 5 MW.

State-owned NLC India Ltd – formerly the Neyveli Lignite Corporation – has commissioned 150 MW of solar power projects at Ramanathapuram and Virudhanagar Districts of Tamil Nadu, taking its total installed solar power capacity in the state to 591 MW.

The organization responsible for coordinating India’s push for 100 GW of new solar capacity by 2022 has had a busy week. But, as last year illustrated, tenders alone are not always a guarantee of new generation assets.

While India’s solar potential is unquestionable, progress has been uneasy and race-to-the-bottom pricing has held back the adoption of technologies such as MLPE. However, that is beginning to change, writes Prasidh Kumar, CEO of Soreva Energy, as grid modernization requires proactive monitoring and optimization technologies.

The Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid) and Electric Vehicles (FAME) scheme with an outlay of Rs 10,000 crore over a period of three years will be implemented from April 1, 2019. It envisages setting up of about 2700 charging stations across the country so that at least one charging station is available in a grid of 3×3 km2.

The Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) has invited bids for implementation of 97.5MWp grid-connected rooftop solar PV systems on government buildings in different States/Union Territories of India. The projects, under both CAPEX and RESCO models, will be awarded through international competitive bidding. The deadline for bid submission is March 27.

The level of new solar capacity – 8,263 MW – however, was 15.5% down from the 9,782 MW added in 2017 owing to safeguarding duty and GST taking a toll on large-scale PV. While utility-scale solar declined 23% year-on-year, rooftop PV remained a bright spot, and registered impressive growth of 66%.

The French power electronics specialist is pulling out of the utility-scale segment to strengthen its profile in the residential and C&I space.